Look at where you are now. Loud, proud and unapologetic in spite of omnipresent prejudice. Living your truth as a queer, black woman has cost you friendships along the way, but you made peace with that ages ago.

Sadly, 2018 has already seen several transgender people fatally shot or killed by other violent means. As BSA we continue to work toward justice and equity for our TGNC community, we mourn those we have lost.

Sadly, 2017 has seen at least 28 transgender people fatally shot or killed by other violent means. As BSA we continue to work toward justice and equity for our TGNC community, we mourn those we have lost.

We live in a world that exists, at least in part, to constantly place trans women in peril. All of us know this, and all of us, somewhere deep down, live and work and exist with the reality of our situations; that today might be the day that systematic transphobia, the prison-industrial complex, state-mediated poverty, or just fucking awful luck get us. Our lives are lived in constant defiance of the death that stalks us each day, and all trans women are more powerful for it.

Brave Space Alliance is the first Black-led, trans-led LGBTQ Center located on the South Side of Chicago, and designed to create and provide affirming and culturally competent services for the entire LGBTQ community of Chicago.